Anniversary
by Emerald
Summary: She's been having a recurring dream. But so has he. Now they know why. Short ET fic.


Time passes slowly, that's for sure. The past three years had been horribly lonely and torturingly long. They had been nothing but empty mirrors of what was then. No matter where eyes turned, there was a never ending reminder of the past that had become painful. Had it been so long ago? Sometimes it seems surreal. Reflecting on the past brought a smile and then tears because it was over.  
  
Tossing and turning, she awoke disgruntled. As she turned to her night stand to focus her eyes on the digital time, she saw that it was 3:31 am.  
  
_Way too early_. She thought.  
  
Still, she knew exactly why she had awoken.  
  
It was strange, for the past couple days now, she had had the same reoccurring dream every night. She couldn't help it and every night she would awake early in the morning. The memory brought silky tears to her eyes and sometimes she would let them fall freely but other times she tried her very best to hide them, repress them, make them go away.  
  
It wasn't possible to make the memory cease forever, but still sometimes she did all that she possibly could to forgot what was. Only, it was impossible to forget him…  
  
Rolling onto her back, her original position, she slept.  
  
And again, for the second time tonight, she dreamt the same dream that she had had in her mind for days.  
  
_They had gone to the beach after the party.  
  
He broke their vibrant kiss and forced himself to speak.  
  
"Theresa, stop," he stated with a heavy breath.  
  
"No, Ethan, I don't want to," she said between kisses.  
  
"But, you promised your mother you would wait."  
  
"I know, I said I would wait until my wedding day," she said before she kissed him. "And guess what, it is our wedding day." Again she kissed him.  
  
"Yes, technically it is, but I think we should-"  
  
"In a few hours we're going to be man and wife," she said with a smile.  
  
Again she kissed his lips.  
  
"I know." His walls were breaking down now.  
  
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking…?" She asked before kissing him again. The fire was ignited now and there was no turning back.  
  
Ethan felt as though he had strayed into a dream as Theresa stood before him and untied her dress from her neck. He watched as it slowly fell down her body.  
  
When she reached for him, she placed her fingers on the buttons of his shirt, that kept it bound. Ethan felt as her fingers slowly traced his chest, undoing the buttons. He felt her hands spread over his chest when the shirt spilled open and she ran her hands over him, eager to explore his body.  
  
Quickly, yet gently, Ethan wrapped his arms around her small, naked waist, drawing her closer to his aroused body.  
  
Ethan couldn't believe this was happening. The anxious look in her eyes as he lay above her made his insides swirl with love and wonder just how he could have ever lived without her before. Kissing her next felt as if his body was about to catch fire.  
  
He looked at her then, searching for confirmation for what was about to happen.  
"Ethan… make love to me," she said in an sensual breath.  
  
There it was.  
  
When Ethan knew the time was right, he parted her thighs gaining entrance to her body. She arched her back involuntarily at the shock of the touch. Her eyes were blurring and her ears seemed to ring. When she felt him brush against her, she gasped for breath at the jolt of pleasure that rocketed through her body.  
  
Not being able to hold out any longer, he slid into her and he felt himself letting go. Theresa felt warm and tight around him, and he lowered his mouth to her neck; kissing the curve, trying to make her feel everything he did.  
  
Once more, Ethan kissed her and joined himself inside Theresa's body. The feeling of her fingers pressing deep into his back in pleasure electrified him  
  
.He had become one with the person he loved.  
  
They soon found a rhythmic motion climbing together towards an unbearable pleasure. He felt her pulling him in more and more, and their pace began to quicken. Her head reeled as she clung to him, but no doubts could take hold.  
  
Everything felt so right.  
  
He stared into her eyes needing to see what she was feeling. He thrust harder into her causing her to scream out his name. His body shook and he felt himself peaking. She returned his gaze with a kiss causing them both to break through the bounds of pleasure and climax together.  
  
Both shaking, both breathing heavily, they stared at each other. Ethan kissed Theresa hungrily and she kissed back, with all receding energy that she could summon.  
  
Ethan's hand made it up to Theresa's face and stroked her cheek as he spoke. "I love you."  
_  
Theresa's eyes shot open again after the last image of the memory faded.  
  
The best night of her life…  
  
She couldn't think of a reason why this memory was haunting her. She couldn't let it go and it had happened three years ago.  
  
Why?  
  
It was then that it finally hit her.  
  
It was unmistakable now.  
  
She finally knew the reason why this dream was in her mind.  
  
It was exactly three years to the day of that fateful night…  
  
And she had no idea that across the hall, sleeping a different bed with his wife, Ethan was having the same exact dream…  
  
Memories haunt and taunt and torture the soul. Sometimes it's a good thing, others it can tear at a heart. Sleepless nights devoted to memories are what once haunted Theresa but she had learned to live with the pain-- though never accept it.  
  
She checked the clock on the nightstand and saw that it was now 5:12.  
  
_Still too early._ She thought.  
  
But it didn't matter. She was awake. No going back to sleep now.  
  
Especially if that memory was going to laugh at her like this.  
  
Quickly, she got up from her bed and wrapped a robe around herself. Crossing her arms to keep warm, she walked over to the window and looked down upon the Crane gazebo. It was amazing that people as evil as the Cranes could possibly have something so beautiful.  
  
That's when she got the idea.  
  
Quickly, she turned around scrambled through her drawer to find a piece of paper and a pen.  
  
She scrawled the note and folded it in half. She wrote the receiver's name on the front and headed to the door.  
  
That's when she thought of something else.  
  
She went back to the drawer and grabbed the long, smooth, wax.  
  
Then she headed for the door.  
  
In the hall, she positioned the items in the way she wanted them on the table against the wall.  
  
After staring at the objects, she reassured herself that it was what she wanted and then headed outside to the gazebo that she had just looked down upon.  
  
Ethan stirred and finally ripped himself away from that dream that he could barely take anymore. He had had it every night, repeatedly, for well over a week now.  
  
Why couldn't he get it out of his head?  
  
There was no real answer, but perhaps there was one awaiting him later this evening…  
  
Finally, giving up on the idea of sleeping, he needed to get up. This dream was making his heart ache and he hated the way it made him want to cry.  
  
Oh, God, how he missed her.  
  
He couldn't tell his wife about this. She could never know. She would go insane is she knew that he couldn't stop dreaming about making love to another woman.  
  
But why this memory? Why not another one? Why did it have to be this one?  
  
It didn't matter. Somewhere inside of Ethan, it made him happy that he was having this dream. Reflecting on a happier time of his life was life being renewed. Only, it left him pained when he opened his eyes and realized that it wasn't her lying next to him, but another woman that he only cared for.  
  
Getting out of bed, Ethan pulled on a shirt and decided to go down to the kitchen for a cup of tea. Maybe it would calm him down, and quite possibly erase these memories that were clouding his mind at this very moment.  
  
It was a futile mission…  
  
When he opened the door, he was careful not to wake his wife with any noise. He stepped outside the room without a sound and carefully pulled the door shut.  
  
All of a sudden he was distracted by a glow interrupting the darkness of the hall around the corner.  
  
As he reached the stairs, he saw what it was. A single candle stood a ablaze, the flame flickering-- standing for much than the simple lit candle. Much more.  
  
Next to the candle was a note. Addressed to him no less.  
  
Carefully, he picked it up and recognized the handwriting immediately.  
  
He opened the note and read its contents.  
  
_Meet me at the gazebo. You know why._  
  
Ethan knew exactly who it was from.  
  
He contemplated going down to meet her. And in the end, as usual, she had a pull over him that he couldn't deny.  
  
He went down to meet her…  
  
As he got to the gazebo, he saw her sitting there. Right where she said she would be.  
  
The question was, could he do it? He would be betraying his wife in going to her.  
  
It didn't matter now. There were answers that he needed and she had them.  
  
She always had.  
  
She seemed to notice him staring at her. She didn't move and instead continued to look heavenward.  
  
He continued to stare at her and then she cocked her head towards him.  
  
His heart stopped when her eyes pressed deep into him.  
  
Neither said a word. Instead, she spun a smile at him and he felt his heart relax.  
  
She got up from the bench of the gazebo and slowly walked to him.  
  
"Hi," she said, as she reached him.  
  
They were less than a foot a part now-- very close.  
  
He said nothing and was captivated by her scent.  
  
She smiled again and that was the last straw for him. He had been fighting it for far too long.  
  
Without a hint of what he was to do next, Ethan's hand immediately came up and pulled Theresa's lips to his. He kissed her with a passion that had been pent up for who knows how long.  
  
Their mouths danced with one another's and let the feelings swirl around them.  
  
Theresa let herself be pulled fully into him and let him explore her mouth.  
  
It was as if he were feeding her oxygen and she held onto him for dear life. Their hands wandered and their breath was catching. But this kiss couldn't end.  
  
They both had waited far too long to let it end now.  
  
Still not ending the kiss their mouths continued to crash together in a passion that would never die.  
  
Finally, they couldn't take it anymore and pulled apart only for a refreshment of oxygen.  
  
He held her close as he kept his eyes closed, savoring the moment with her.  
  
"I love you," she said softly against his chest.  
  
He stroked her hair as he held her against his body.  
  
Ethan pulled back and lifted her chin. He kissed her again, just as much passion as before.  
  
When they pulled back, they stared at each other a long time.  
  
"Happy anniversary," he said.  
  
She smiled up at him and it was then that he knew it was right.  
  
Ethan and Theresa celebrated their anniversary the way that it started.  
  
And then, the next morning, they were haunted by yet another memory…  
  
The End 


End file.
